Ajay Nayak, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
Contact
Jefferson Alumni Hall
1020 Locust Street
541 JAH
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107
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Ajay Nayak, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
Expertise & Research Interests
The major focus of my research is to elucidate the underlying mechanisms contributing to allergic responses to Cannabis sativa (marijuana). Exposure to Cannabis components results in aberrant respiratory function including exacerbation of asthma. Furthermore, direct contact with the plant may also result in urticarial rash and angioedema. With increasing legalization of marijuana for medicinal and recreational use more individuals are likely to demonstrate allergic reactions in the near future. We are specifically interested in identifying the major allergens of marijuana and developing standardized tools for clinical diagnostics.
Additional research interests include GPCR signaling, regulation and function (in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo) in the context of lung disease, as well as the pathobiology and treatment of fibrotic lung disease.
Publications
- Heated tobacco product IQOS induces unique metabolic signatures in human bronchial epithelial cells
- Erratum: Correction for Tuntevski et al., "Aspergillus Collagen-Like Genes (acl): Identification, Sequence Polymorphism, and Assessment for PCR-Based Pathogen Detection" (Applied and environmental microbiology (2013) 79 24 (7882-7895))
- Prorelaxant E-type Prostanoid Receptors Functionally Partition to Different Procontractile Receptors in Airway Smooth Muscle
- Relevance of lipid transfer protein to Cannabis sensitization in North America
- Proteomics-Based Approach for Detailing the Allergenic Profile of Cannabis Chemotypes